I live in and am from the southern US. For the past couple of days and weeks, I have had to sit back and watch the devastation brought upon my heartland from both Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma. My relatives are from Texas, I have many friends that live in Florida, and I once lived the Charleston, SC area. Not to mention that my current home state of Georgia is still feeling the pain. It hurts. It hurts to see the people and places you love ravaged by the storms of this life. It hurts to see and hear about those who have lost everything.
Is there any good that can come out of natural disasters? Sure, there is. On my way to church every Sunday, I read a church sign that says, “turn off the news and love your neighbor.” It took two hurricanes, but for the first time in a while, the news has actually been worth watching. Why? Because humanity’s love for one another has been accentuated. People are pouring in from all over the country to help out their fellow man and the news is capturing it! I would rather hear about people helping each other out than Antifa or Trump or whatever is happening out at the University of Cal Berkeley.
Is it fair that some people have lost everything and others have not? No, but life is not always fair. There are some who question God in times like this. It’s ok to question God. But you will hear some people say they don’t believe in prayer because they don’t believe in a God who would allow suffering to happen. Some of these people get angry at God and allow the root of bitterness to seep in. God has not asked us to be able to understand everything that happens in this life. However, he does ask us to trust him.
I have three major takeaways from the storm that you can share with the next generation:
- We all face storms in our life whether they be emotional, relational, financial, spiritual, or physical storms. Jesus too faced a storm one time while out in the middle of the sea (Mark 4:3541). Where was he when all the disciples were worried for their life? He was in the bottom of the boat, asleep. Relax! Jesus has got this. He is in control and you are not.
- In Luke 13:1–9, Jesus tells those who are present that yes, there are freaky things that happen to some that do not happen to others, but that neither party is better than the other. Some people’s houses were completely torn apart and their life taken away by the hurricane while all the houses down the street were left completely intact. Jesus’s message to the group left alive is simple: “Unless you repent, you too will likewise perish.” The time to come to Jesus is now.
- In a postmodern society where everything seems to be either a joke or inconsequential, a storm such as Hurricane Irma can knock a sense of seriousness into people who have lost a grip on reality. When you lose everything you have, you don’t care if the person helping you to rebuild and restore is a Republican or a Democrat.
Let’s use moments like these to teach the next generation that God is good, even when things in the world are not. “And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings . . . “ (Romans 5:2b–3a).